The countdown is ON until July 10th when I leave my
family’s business, comfortable home, amazing friends & family, incredible
boyfriend and fly off to SPAIN for 3 months.
The trip originated with an inquiry to my friend/mentor
Debbie begging for a trip to shake up our lives – we’d been talking about doing
a mission trip to Jamaica or Kanya to get a new perspective and appreciation for life.
Debbie suggested doing El Camino de Santiago. My eyes watered – I’d always
wanted to do a pilgrimage! El Camino de Santiago (also known as The Way of St. James) is most famously known as the route that the disciples of James, the brother of John and disciple of Jesus, carried his body after he was murdered and buried his bones in Santiago where a big cathedral was built in his honor.
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| The Camino sea shell guides the way |
Thousands of pilgrims a year have walked this route - some with the same basis of faith and some without. But everyone finishes a different person. The walk is known to deepen your faith and broaden your perspective.
Debbie & I decided we
were going to take 3 weeks, fly to Spain, walk 500 miles and come home as
different people.
*
Out of the blue, a friend of mine posted on facebook that he
has a friend in Barcelona that was looking for an AuPair for the summer. On a
whim, I sent an email to the family and waited (very impatiently) for a
response. They replied, we had a FaceTime interview the next week and after
interviewing a few other applicants, they offered me the job the following
week.
The deal is, I’ll fly to Barcelona on July 10th
and we’ll spend the weekdays in the city and the weekends at their summer home
in Cadaques in September and then in August we’ll be going full-time to the
summer home on the Mediterranean Sea in Caqaques.
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| Cadaques, Spain |
Debbie will fly in on September 11th and we’ll head to Saint-Jean-Peid-de-Port, Spain in order to begin our 500 mile walk to Santiago along
the northern coast of the country. Along the route, we’ll stay in hostiles, eat
with locals and walk 12-20 miles a day through the Pyrenees Mountains. We are
prepared for blisters, scraps, lost toe nails, laughter, tears, good food,
uncomfortable beds, new friends, and most importantly, we’re prepare to hear
from God along The Way.
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| The Northern Route on El Camino de Santiago |
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| Pilgrims trekking through the Pyrenees Mountains |
Please join me along the way – each vulnerable, precious
moment of the journey.
XOXO,
Abby
